LOS ANGELES TIMES — Is it a large hybrid cat, leopard or an old dog with an off gait? Even more intriguing, could it be — as some experts are speculating — an African lioness? Grainy surveillance footage of the large animal strolling across a driveway late at night is fast becoming Norwalk’s version of Bigfoot. The footage — posted on the city of Norwalk’s Facebook page — shows what looks like a large cat strolling across a driveway in the 11500 block of Tina Street about 3:44 a.m. Tuesday. But the poor quality of the footage is making it difficult to determine what exactly it is. “We didn’t know what to think,” city spokesman Jeff Hobbs said. Neither do the experts, at least for now.
Craig Packer — a professor at the University of Minnesota Lion Research Center and author of “Into Africa” — said after examining the footage: “Yes, it certainly does look like an African lion. It’s not a cougar.” Experts at San Diego Zoo agreed that the animal “does not look like a mountain lion,” but that’s about all, spokeswoman Christine Simmons said. “We cannot positively identify the animal in the video as it is difficult to tell scale, and the video is not clear,” she said. The animal, she added, has the appearance of a big cat, but could be “some kind of hybrid.” To read the full story, visit LATIMES.com.
